Burning Down The Haus

LONGLISTED FOR THE CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE 'A thrilling and essential social history that details the rebellious youth movement that helped change the world' Rolling Stone 'A riveting and inspiring history of punk's hard-fought struggle in East Germany' New York Times 'Wildly entertaining . . . A joy in the way it brings back punk's fury and high stakes' Vogue THE SECRET HISTORY OF PUNKS IN EAST GERMANY It began with a handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on a British military radio broadcast to troops in West Berlin, and it ended with the collapse of the East German dictatorship. Punk rock was a life-changing discovery: in an authoritarian state where the future was preordained, punk, with its rejection of society and DIY approach to building a new one, planted the seeds for revolution. As these kids began to form bands, they also became more visible, and security forces - including the dreaded secret police, the Stasi - targeted them. They were spied